First: I bought a set of Beyerdynamic DT990 600ohm cans last week, and have been rocking on them since I bought them (and as I write this).

Oh god, these are good. They're not the most neutral headphone, so if you like finding flaws in your recordings or playing studio engineer, these probably aren't for you. They are amazingly fun to listen to though. Nice tightly controlled bass that never seems to be too much, clear mids, and clear highs. I've only got ~8-10 hours on the headphones, but they sound astonishingly good with my amp.

Show spoiler

(hidden content - requires Javascript to show)

Without the amp they're usable too. despite the really high impedance rating, they get to be louder than I like to listen to when the phone is at max volume. Much below max phone volume and the headphones are super quiet. Yay impedance.

They don't provide much noise isolation though, so they are best used in a rather quiet area. They're not super portable either since they don't fold up (I have the Sony 7506s for that), but for listening to music or watching tv, or xbox-ing at home, they're awesome. These are my favorite headphones yet. Still saving for an HD650 tho.

Amazon has an amazing price on these (and all Beyerdynamics), and they carry the 32/250 ohm versions as well.

Pic:

Second: it was time to replace my 5yr old computer, and so I went overboard and bought myself an i7-950/HD5870/much more system (yay newegg black friday deals). That should get me through grad school without messing with the computer for another five years.

I recently indulged in the Decca box-set of Sir Georg Solti's recording of Wagner's master work Der Ring des Nibelungen; a series of four operas which transform a miscellany of Germanic legends into one of the most awe-inspiring works of art ever created. So very, very worth the money. Many people complain about Solti opting for repetitive bombast over a more delicate style, but I find his interpretation utterly captivating, even if it does sometimes flatten some of the music's intricacies. Wagner decribed these as music-dramas after all, and Solti's sense of that drama more than makes up the lack of something to look at on a stage when listening to these.

YouTube Video

Here, the dwarf Alberich, denied success in his pursuit of love, choses to renounce it, enabling him to steal the Rheingold and forge a ring which will grant him power over the whole world. It is a section which, no matter how many times I hear, fills me with dread:

The Lost and Damned has a few differences in the radio station content on episodes from its DLC version. Mostly it is a catch 22:

DLC combines the music and soundtracks of TLaD, tBoGT, and IV. Episodes version, each game has exclusive tracks and songs of its own though they do not share. Complete edition is merely IV and episodes together over 2 discs.

On the downside Episodes version of The Lost and Damned cannot join multiplayer sessions of the older DLC version, unfortunately.

tBoGT: A new bonus, you can replay passed missions.

Also to anybody who has XBL: look for a player named Nobunaga when doing GTA multiplayer, he's *hillarious* to play against.
============================================

My cool stuff:

Though I'm happy enough with the smaller Harbor Freight red model electric multitool, I have been warned it'll wear out soon enough which is understandable seeing as how it was only $20 on sale. So I upgraded:
on sale for $50.

Nice introductions to electric multifunction tools. One day I'll get the ultimate, Fein MultiMaster250Q.

A friend got me a belated christmas gift from...burlington coat factory?
Anyway it was a 2 pack of 360 games for $20:

I suppose the reason I bought this was both my want to play it, along with the possibility of playing as a PredAlien. It also has a Predator Campaign, which isn't much different, aside from the interface, and addition of a new weapon. In place of the Marine slot is the Corporates, or rather the Iron Bear's mercenary Dunya. Only differences would be the ability to dual-wield the pistols(which, even as the reload animation is cool, it takes a few seconds), and the 360 degree Motion tracker. These changes aside, its the campaigns themselves that really don't seem to mesh with those in AVP2 - along with the fact that there are only three levels per character, which aren't difficult, but given how many Drones and Runners they throw at you as Dunya, it seems a little excessive.

It's the 64GB version + a pre-paid 3G service plan...and I am free to install serious and less serious stuff on it I love it!

On the serious side: it's very practical for meetings, much more comfortable than a phone to answer e-mails + I don't have to carry a bunch of heavy reference documents anymore...and on the fun side, I can bring books, music, movies and a few time wasting games with me when I travel without taking all the space in my hand luggage (I used to full my hand luggage with magazines and books to the point that it would end up being almost heavier than my checked-in luggage and then make me pester against the endless airport corridors) .

I only got the single serve since I already have my pride & joy Bunn, but the little sucker is just plain handy when I'm just wanting a single cup rather than brew an entire pot. Got the My K-cup accessory as well so I can use my own beans/grounds rather than get ripped off buying the pre-filled stuff

@ Prime: Oh sweet, is that the 1/60 scale version? If so, I would've waited... Bandai went cheap on the first run of their VF-25 toys and it has many issues... worst of which is the gerwalk mode that has a rigid leg pose unless you don't click them into place.... they fixed it with the VF-27 toys but never re-released a version of the VF-25 toys with the improvements. I wonder if the VF-29 toy that's being released has the improved gerwalk stance though...

I got married just recently, to my GF of the past ~6 years. Considering that when I first floated the idea of asking her out, even one of my more supportive friends laughed and made comments about how she was so far out of my league we were playing different sports, I'm not entirely sure how I managed to pull that one off.